Method of and apparatus for cooling gun rarrels



June 7, 1927.

W. R. BULL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING gun BARRELS Filed Feb. 0. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l game/fox William R Bull June 7, 1927. 1,631,190 W. R- BULL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING GUN BARRELS Filed Feb: 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 7, 192?.

WILLIAM R. BULL, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COOLINCtG-UN BAR-EELS.

Application filed February 20, 1925. Serial No. 16,563.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883; 22 STAT. L. 625.)

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of'its officers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by'any other person in the United States, without payment tome of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

The subject of this invention is a method of and apparatus for cooling gun barrels.

When operating machine guns of the water cooled type steam is generated in the water jacket surrounding the barrel after firing about five hundred to six hundred rounds. To avoid betrayal and detection of the gun'position, the steam is led through a hose into a -water box. However, in sustained firing the water supply in the jacket requires frequent renewal and under the present system of operation this necessitates an interruption in firlng, disarranges the setting of the gun, floods the operative elements adjacent the feed mechanism, requires exposure of the operator who performs the task and frequently by reason of the restricted clearance imposed by the nature of the gun emplacement demands lowering of the tripod. v

With a view to overcoming the objections outlined above, the present invent-ion contemplates providing a pumping apparatus conveniently operable at a distance for circulating water through the jacket of the gun, the steam being condensed on return to the container enclosing the pumping ap paratus. The pumping unit can be readily lifted from its water box or container'and transferred to another box without interrupting or disturbing the operation of the gun. I

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists -in the construction, arrangeinent, and combination of elements, de scribed hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment of my invention,

is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein:

Fig. l is a View in side elevation of a machine gun equipped with the improved apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a View in elevation of thepump unit removed from its container;

Fig. 3 is .a longitudinal sectional viewof Fig. 2; V 1 p Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a bottom view-thereof.

Referring to the drawings bylettersand'. numerals of reference:

In carrying out the invention, themachine gun A is equipped with the usual water jacket at within which is the gun barrel 5 and having a water intake 6 and-steam outlet 7. The inlet and outlet are respectively connected by hoses 8 and 8 to a circulating apparatus B. I

This apparatus comprises a water boxor I container 9 provided with an opening for r the reception of a pump unit G which includes a. cover 10 for the opening in the container. Attached to the cover 10 area pump cylinder 11 and an outlet pipe 12, the ends of which are confined in a cap 13. An outlet orifice 1 1- and a return orifice 15 are provided in the cover for the hosemembers 8 and 8. Apertures l6 and 17 are also provided in the cover to respectively receive thepiston rod 18 and to provide a vent from the cylinder 11 to the water box. The piston head 19 is provided witha dished face 20 adapted to fit over a valve 21 in the cap 13; A valve :22 is'provided for normally closing an aperture 23 which establishes communication{between the pump cylinder and the outlet pipe.

0n the end of the steam return hose 8 is a long tube or nozzle '24 receivable in the orifice 15 in the cover and extending into the.

water box to act-as a condenser.

Whenthe cooling fluid surrounding the barrel of the gun has become heated, the

pump is operated to produce a circulation of the cooling fluid from the containerthrough the-water jacket, the steam generated in. the jacket returning to the container whereit is condensed and reused. By employing this method of cooling the barrel the number of rounds which may be fired before steam becomes visible is increased manifold. In fact, firing may be continued indefinitely without interruption by occasionally changing the pumping unit to a fresh container.

l/Vhile in the foregoing there has been il-v lustrated and described such combination and arrangement of'elements, as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, 1t 1s nevertheless deemed to emphasrze the fact that interpretation of the invention V the top thereof, a removable cover therefor,

and e pumping and condensing unit at- 1 tached to the cover.

2.'Apparatus for cooling gun barrels embodying a container having an opening in theliop thereof, and zppump and condenser unit insertable in the container through said opening.

WILLIAM. R. BULL. 

